Man charged over crash with cop

The scene of the horrific crash that left Senior Sergeant Deirdre Lack seriously injured. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

A driver involved in a head-on collision that seriously injured one of the Western Bay of Plenty's top cops has been charged.

Te Puke man Daniel Longney, 20, faces a charge of careless driving causing serious injury after his car was in collision with a car driven by an off-duty police officer from Te Puke.

Senior Sergeant Deirdre Lack was travelling to the Oceanblue Health and Fitness Club in Papamoa for an early morning workout.

The collision occurred on State Highway 2, a kilometre north of Manoeka Rd, just before 5am on December 22.

The impact of the crash wedged Miss Lack's broken body against the steering wheel of her Nissan station wagon.

She suffered a broken thigh, broken arms, broken ankle and fractured pelvis. She spent 10 weeks in Tauranga Hospital.

Longney was also seriously injured, suffering a badly broken leg, cracked ribs and a collapsed lung. He spent about two weeks in hospital.

Stories at the time noted the shockwaves sent through emergency service workers who attended the scene only to learn one of the victims was one of their own.

Acting Bay of Plenty district road policing manager, Senior Sergeant Stuart Nightingale, said this was a key reason investigation into the cause of the crash was overseen by him.

This ensured "transparency around the process", he said.

"Given the incident involved one of Western Bay of Plenty's senior police officers, it was appropriate the investigation was handled in this way."

Police allege Longney crossed the centre line into the path of Miss Lack.

While it was a "relatively straightforward crash" police had to consider all other possible causes.

"We had to consider if there were any issues with the vehicles and whether there was driver error in the collision."

Mr Nightingale said police looked into the movements of both drivers in the lead up to the collision to establish whether factors like fatigue or cellphone use were issues.

"Cellphone use was not a factor for either drivers, which is positive.

"There has been a suggestion there was - that cellphones have been used by both drivers. That's simply not a factor in this crash. That's something I want to get out there."

Mr Nightingale would not comment on possible fatigue being a factor, saying that matter would need to be brought up in court.

The driver is expected to appear in Tauranga District Court within the next two weeks.